


Normal Moments

by stars_and_shadows



Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Implied/Referenced Sex, Kisses, Light Angst, Light-Hearted, Sexual Humor, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2018-09-03 11:39:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8711209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stars_and_shadows/pseuds/stars_and_shadows
Summary: Benny didn't think he had any soft spots to exploit until she came along and dug her fingers into all of them. He, surprisingly, didn't really mind all that much.





	1. Enjoying Life

Benny could think of worse ways to wake up. Alone, dead, or gagged were just a select few unpleasant situations to find oneself in after a nap, not that he was complaining about his current state now.

Six wasn't all that heavy to begin with so, the fact that her whole body was lounging on top of him while she slept wasn't inherently uncomfortable. Craning his neck to look down at her was, in fact, rather painful. Benny did it anyway, she looked a bit too beautiful, bit too peaceful, like this to ignore. 

Her cheek was to his bare chest, he counted her breaths silently. Beneath the tangled Vegas sheets he felt her ankle wedged beneath the crook of his knee, and her other rigidly straight against his hip. She was alive, and she chose to be here, with him. What a crazy ass dame she was, he couldn't help but think. 

It was not disagreeable, actually she was pretty damn amazing. It was just strange. Not that Benny didn't know she was a weird one to begin with, awake or asleep. Maybe that was why he liked her so fucking much, but the problem was Six wasn't domestic, or domesticated for the matter. This felt much to normal to be real.

She joined him in waking soon after Benny decided he was just dreaming this soft, sweet shit up. Six shifted to stretch her arms beside his ears, dig her slender fingers into the crumpled pillowcase when she yawned. When she finally lifted her head up her eyes locked with his straight away.

"Hng," She groaned a little, hair falling in disarray across her face. Benny, always the gentleman, reached up slowly and tucked the longest strands behind her ear. Her jaw worked as if she meant to say something, but reluctantly settled for a whimper when he started to run his fingers through her hair. Six absolutely loved it when he did that, he knew. She'd kept coming back long enough for him to find out little things like that, vice versa too. 

"Mornin' Pussycat," He purred, the rough edges of his voice made her breathing hitch subconsciously. Benny moved his hand to her jaw, let her tilt her head into his palm. "What cha' doing up there?" 

Six hummed again, blinking methodically while she thought. Then she said, "Dunno, just felt like it,"

His hand fell away from her face, and he tucked it beneath the blanket on the curve of her spine, gently stroking.

"Mm, I wouldn't mind--" Six pressed a sloppy kiss just beside his mouth, trailed more across the stubble on his jaw and down the column of his throat that was already adorned with her little love bites. "If you felt like it more often,"

Six's chuckle was thick, sweet like honey, and altogether genuine. "Thanks for your input, Benny, I'll keep that in mind," Gently, she disentangled herself from him and rolled onto what was originally her side. Really, having known each other and been doing this routine for so long, it was more like neither of them had sides and that was perfectly okay with him, to be completely honest.

Benny wondered how the fuck he'd gotten here in the first place. Still, he wasn't complaining in the least, but it still struck him at times how damn lucky he was. To think, it had all started with a single courier, two bullets and a hell of a lot of personal drive from both of them.

"What'cha thinkin' about?" Six nudged him, her body propped up on her elbow giving him quite the view of her charlie's.

"Nothin' toots, just thinkin' about how good I have it,"

She snorted, a less than charming sound, but fuck it he was having one of those days, it was extremely endearing to him.

"Alrighty, Ben-man, don't go gettin' soft on me now," She winked at him, sly and teasing hidden in her tone. Benny laughed then while taking her into his arms, which she let him do. 

"Not a chance, toots, not a chance,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am such a sap, not kidding. Lots of self indulgent stuff in this series that is not chronologically and basically just a bunch of my ideas I manage to put into writing.


	2. Green Lights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Courier Six's secretes were her own, and yet, Benny still wanted to search those dark corners for something, anything.

Benny was not a technology person, no way, no how. It was just a fact of life. That, however, did not stop him from fiddling with, and eventually breaking it, when he got the chance. 

Six was the real techie, with her quick fingers and warm focused eyes. 'I tinker, you break things,' she had said to him once. He, passionately, tried to defend himself but it was really a loosing battle. She was right, after all she normally was, but Benny still argued. He had at least known enough to seek the help of Emily Ortal for Yes Man. 

Although, it was very clear that Benny wanted nothing to do with the science behind the things, he was quite curious about Pipboys. He'd only messed around with Sarah's for a few moments before she got antsy and tugged it away from his reach. He'd never seen one up close like that before. Seemed like every dame he met with one of them strapped to their arms were jumpy. Six was the same way, wouldn't let him touch it any longer than it took to get it off her arm. 

Now, though, it was early morning and it was slung over his chest and just in his reach. She'd forgotten to take it off last night, she normally did. Well. Forgot wouldn't be the word for it, Benny thought while he gently lifted the device into his hands, it was more like she didn't ever want to take it off. 

Carefully, he found the switch and turned it on, pressed the button marked Data and rotated the wheel-thingy a couple of times. The screen glowed green in the near darkness, it showed a map and many places marked on it. He thumbed the wheel again, this time words appeared across the screen, a tab marked Misc. 

He scanned the titles of some of the files, most of them were things she'd picked up and transferred to her device. Notes, audio recordings. A few of the files were marked with Admin. Maybe that meant they were hers. He opened a file that was titled Vault 22.

She shifted on her stomach, her fingers twitching as she woke up, and used her other arm to prop herself up. He froze, fingers still hanging onto the Pipboy when she tried to pull her arm towards her. She looked up, hair thick and tangled from sleep. She opened her mouth, looked at him, then at her arm, then closed her mouth. 

Benny was expecting to be chewed out, or at least given that look of hers. The one she used when she was pissed, yeah, if looks could kill he would be dead. He'd die happy, though, he thought.

Instead of any of that, she sat up, pressed her side against him and her back against the headboard. 

"Mornin'," He said, as if nothing was odd about this, as if he hadn't been caught red handed rifling through her personal shit. Six didn't look up at him, eyes trained on her tech before shoving it back into his hands.

"What-?" 

"You wanted to mess with it, go ahead," She was matter of fact, blunt even, flickering her eyes up to his with a carefully practiced smile.

"Pussycat, if you don't-"

"It's fine, really," Her free hand tried to thread through her hair, "It's- I've had it since- and- I just-," She tugged on her hair harshly, wincing at the pain it brought, and looking back up at him warily. "I guess, I guess I trust you with this,"

"Oh? What don't you trust me with?" He put a hand over her mouth, "I mean-, you trust me to run Vegas- for the most part, you trust me enough to sleep with me, you trust me enough to put my mouth-,"

Silx pressed both her hand to his mouth in return, they were much smaller than his so the edges of his smirk peaked around the edge of her fingertips. He moved his hand back to the device, flipping through her list of notes. She huffed, put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

He flipped to a new screen, this one had a box at the bottom and a wall of random symbols.

"I hate to ask, but what is the purpose of- all this?" 

She snorted at his wording, blinked down at the screen. She scanned the seemingly meaningless wall of text and then laughed.

"It's- code, I guess. It's termlink, with an eight count-"

"Yeah, okay, I get it. It's not a glitch," He pressed a button, it did nothing. He did it again, still nothing.

She laughed again, pecked his cheek. "No, you don't get it, but I don't mind,"

Benny glared at her, then pointed to the Pipboy. "What?" She asked, eyebrows raised and grinning.

"How do you get back?" He sighed.

"Just give it here," She yanked her arm back, turned a dial, flipped a switch. "You know- I've heard it's supposed to be impossible to take these things off,"

"Really? Wouldn't that get uncomfortable?"

"Probably. House probably didn't design them for comfort,"

"Hm," He hummed. 

"There," She handed it back to him, both of her arms free. "What are you looking for, anyways?"

"Nothing in particular, just trying to find out how that brilliant mind of yours works," He pressed his face into her hair, listening to her chuckle. 

"Asshole," She pushed him away gently, climbed over his lap. "Have fun, I'm going to take a bath," She pulled her hair back from her face, as if she was going to tie it back behind her head. Six had allowed it to grow very long, it taking shape and curling loosely. Benny thought she was beautiful now, most times he thought she was beautiful, but he liked it. She looked- alive, for lack of a better word.

He weighed the Pipboy in his hands, heard the water turn on in the adjacent bathroom. A smile spread across his face, Six's secretes were her own, and he could live without knowing all of them. He set the device aside slipped out of the bed and made his way to the bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idea I've had for quite a while, just got around to wording it. The description makes it sound darker than it actually is. Yes, there is a tiny Old World Blues reference. Anyways, Happy, New Year to everyone! 


	3. Silver Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunlight was not allowed to touch this part of her. The fragile, cracked portion of herself that she kept hidden away from the world. Any time past midnight was fair game, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning this one is a tad more serious than usual, but just a little bit. and thank you all so much for reading, I really appreciate it.

Benny could see why Six disliked waking up alone, it was cold, and always left him a little bit disoriented. Like a little part of his brain is warning him that something wasn't right. 

Not that she would admit to missing him, ever, but he knew. Of course he would know. 

Now, he couldn't help but think for a split second that she'd finally come to her fucking senses and left him, left Vegas, for good. 

Benny could almost feel Vegas suffocating her some nights. She wasn't meant to be tied down to one place, he didn't think. She'd never outright stated that she was uncomfortable, or bored, or unhappy, but he still worried that she was. He knew what it felt like to feel trapped, but that didn't matter. Maybe she was fine and it was just him projecting.

He pulled himself off of the comfortable bed, stood and stretched. There was a green glow leaking in from the adjacent living space. Of course there was, he thought, but couldn't ignore the pang of relief in his chest. 

Quietly, Benny made his way into the living space, he stopped at the doorway. Six was curled up on the old, faded red couch in one of his shirts, PipBoy in hand. Now that he was paying attention he could hear the faint chirping sounds that came from it every few moments. She fidgeted with the dials quickly, pressed a button, the ding echoed in the room. 

Benny cleared his throat, loud enough to startle her. Her dark eyes shone in the green light, they fixated on him standing mostly naked in the doorway to their bedroom. 

"Come back to bed, it's three in the morning," He said, watching her blank expression shift into something of despair. 

"No,"

"Why not?"

"It's not three, and I'm not tired," She curled one of her legs beneath her, again looking at the screen, ignoring him. He could always do the same, ignore her in favor of blissful sleep. Benny knew that would accomplish nothing. She wouldn't get lonely, curled up on his couch, in his shirt, in his suite. The bed- yeah, that was theirs, it was only fair- but everything else was, technically, his. 

She wouldn't be bothered by the silent treatment the next morning, and hell, she might just walk out and not come back for months. At least last time it hadn't been 'cause she was mad, she was just doing her job. 

"Well, why didn't you say something babe? That I can fix,"

Her nose wrinkled, dramatic shadows playing over her face from the bright light, an attempt not to laugh. It only lasted a moment though, her face turned bleak again. "No," She repeated, more firmly. 

Benny sighed through his nose, tired and irritated. This woman, he swore, was putting grey in his hair. Rubbing his hand over his face, he approached her, sat in the empty space beside her. She didn't pay him any mind. 

Peering over her shoulder, through sleep dazed eyes, he could make out more words intermixed with symbols on the screen. 

"I've got a question, babe. Do you think in ones and zeros too?"

Six leaned back into his shoulder, a ghost of a chuckle on her chapped lips. "If I did, I wouldn't be able to tell. It'd just be natural, right?"

"I guess," He said, watching her tap at the screen again.

"What is it?" Benny pointed to her device, just to make sure she didn't think he was trying to pry. At least, just yet.

"Some files Yes Man wanted me to decode, thought I'd try to get it done soon," Six shrugged.

"It's three-"

"It's actually four, darling," 

"Whatever. It's still too early for your snarky ass,"

"Fair," She whispered, a smile in her voice, head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, rubbed over her shoulder with his hand, trying to be comforting. 

"What's your dealio, pussycat? You've been doing this a lot lately,"

"Doesn't matter," She shrugged again, pulled away from him to put her Pipboy on the coffee table. Benny took a minute, trying to figure out just why what she had said made him feel almost angry. 

"Is it about me?" He said at last, unfortunately, he couldn't come up with another legitimate reason she wouldn't talk about it. She liked to keep everything close to her, information especially, but he'd always thought she loosened her grip a little when it came to him.

"No?" She said it like it was a question, not comforting. She amended, touching his hand, "Benny- baby, I'm just like this, I'm-" 

"You're what?"

"Sorry? Maybe?" Six stood, took a few steps away from him, towards the entrance to the suite. She spun around on her heel again to face him, "I don't know, I don't know," 

"Just sit down and use-"

"If you say 'that silver tongue of yours', I might have to slap you," And then she laughed, which quickly turned into hushed sobs. Her right hand knotted itself in her hair and the other covering her mouth. She sat, heavily, next to him again, practically tearing at her scalp.

She'd been trying to grow her hair out, again. She had been only managed to get both sides the same length once before, and he hadn't been around to see that. Old habits died hard, though, she only ever played with the hair on her right, where it had been since she could first remember. 

"I was going to say words, to use your words," He spoke slowly after she had caught some of her breath. His hands still awkwardly hovered near her, unsure whether to give her space or hold her. In a way, it reminded him of that night in Caesar's camp. He was seeing a side of Six that the light of day didn't get to touch.

She seemed to notice his unease, and inability to decide what exactly he was expected to do. "Don't- don't worry, I w-wouldn't what t-to do with me either," Six smiled, all tears and gritted teeth. She knotted her hands together in her lap, trying to keep still.

"Pussycat-"

"I know, I know you don't care, I'm sorry," Her hands sprang apart, fingers rubbing at her temples, irritated, embarrassed, and yet she was still quivering. It seemed to him that she just couldn't settle this herself, so here he was. 

"Sweetheart, it's four in the morning, and I'm not sleeping through your mental breakdown," Benny paused, reaching to touch her cheek softly, almost expecting her to be offended by his wording. "Trust me, just this once, I care,"  
She rolled her eyes, sniffled. "Six," He used her name, softly still, trying to coax her.

"It's-" She took a moment to breath, in and out. "I can't sleep, I don't want- well, I do but- I don't at the same time,"

Benny thought about it for a moment, watched her bite her knuckle as she thought about how exactly she was going to continue.

"See, it's stupid, doesn't matter," She waved her hands toward him, "Go to bed, you're tired, I'm fine,"

He blinked, slowly, trying to absorb this situation and react. "You just don't like relying on anyone but yourself," Benny said.

Six leaned against the back of the couch, tapping her fingers on her knees. "You're right, Benny," She said quietly. "You should know that there's nobody more trustworthy than your own self,"

"Tough shit, we're both learning new things. Now spit it out,"

She grumbled, rubbing at her already red eyes before managing to force the thoughts out. "Sometimes I dream of blood, and I'm drowning in it, and everything smells like sulfur and tastes like old world gold. I hear noises that just- aren't there, and it hurts," 

"And?"

"and sometimes I dream of knives and bright white lights, and- and-" She paused, biting her bottom lip for a brief moment before continuing, "It- I know, it sounds ridiculous now,"

"It doesn't," He said.

"No, Benny, it really does. I'm- you know who I am, I've-"

"You've been through a whole hell of a lot more than anyone should have to go through and still come back spitting fire every time," Benny put his hand on her shoulder, "Hello, baby, You dragged yourself across a desert out of pure spite. You really are platinum, I'm surprised the biggest problem you think you've got is nightmares,"

"Yeah, nightmares, and forgetting to eat, and amnesia-,"

"Okay, okay, babe, I get it, you're damaged goods. Cut me some slack, 'm tired," Benny held up his hands in surrender. "Still think you're the best dame around," He mumbled, leaning towards her. Six pointed towards the bedroom, he couldn't quite read the look she was giving him.

"Go. I'm right behind you," She said, making the sweeping motion with one hand. 

"Hm," It didn't take too much effort to stand up and collapse on his stomach in bed. He thought for a moment that she had duped him, because she knew he wasn't getting up again, but no, the bed creaked, announcing her arrival. 

Benny wrapped his arm around her midsection, running a calloused finger over a familiar scar on her hip. "Y'know, you can talk to me anytime. That's what couples are supposed to do, right?" The teasing in his voice might have gotten lost in the yawn.

"We're not a normal couple," She said, quietly, face half buried in his shoulder and the pillow.

"Well, we can pretend,"

"Nah, we're not pretending. We're learning,"


	4. Storytelling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Very short, sweet moment of peace for two tired lovers. While the wasteland has taken many to never return, they have survived to live another day, and their scars will tell their story when they're gone, if there's anything left to tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for disappearing for a bit, but thank you all for all the support! this is just an 'i didn't abandon this or writing, just busy and can't decide what i'd rather focus on'.

They were lying on the couch, the TV quiet static in the background. Whatever tape Six had put in had ran out an hour ago, and they had curled around each other as a result. Too tired to put another old world something in or go to bed. They dozed, or not dozed, in almost silence beneath a thin sheet dragged, ironically, from their bedroom. 

Her finger, warm and slightly ticklish, traced his jaw, stopped abruptly at the base of his neck. She rubbed over a scar, he groaned softly. “Where’d this one come from?” She murmured into his ear, into the darkness. He half expected it was a rhetorical question, but he went to answer nonetheless.

His first response would have been that he didn't know, but he stopped, thought for a moment, maybe just because she cared enough to ask.“Got it when I was a kid. Swank and me were playing with knives, I think,”

“Oh,” She said, then he felt a smile against his bare shoulder. “Cute,”

Benny grunted softly, running his hand down her spine, slowly, carefully searching for a question to ask. She squirmed, but, still, his palm caught on a long, thin disfigurement running over shoulder. He knew where her scars were, yes, but he’d never thought to ask about them. Pity. 

“Tell me about this one?” He murmured into her forehead, which was surprisingly free of her thick curls. She laughed, utterly at ease and bonelessly resting on his chest, “Okay,” She said, fingers tapping against his pulse as she thought.

“Hm. Deathclaw,” 

Benny wasn't sure what he had come to expect, but really that answer should have been one of those things, considering who Six was. 

“How the fuck are you still alive?” He struggled to sit up a small bit, suddenly needing to see her face. She laughed like he was the crazy one. Really, he shouldn’t be surprised. Six always seemed like she was indestructible, stuff like this just seemed to prove it. In any case, she could be joking? Who knew, certainly not Benny, so he just went with it. 

“Pf, that’s nothing. The reason I was fighting a deathclaw in the first place is much more absurd. And in actuality, it wasn’t just one deathclaw, it was a nest of them,”

He held her face in his hands for a moment, she let him, rested her chin in his palms. He sighed, released her face from his grasp and fell back against the lumpy couch pillow with a solid oomphf. “I’m dating a crazy woman,” 

“Whoops, sorry, Ben-man. Didn't spoil us for you did I?” She teased, the laugh that vibrated through her rivaling the static noise on the television. She rubbed her face against his cheek softly. He grinned while turning his head, chasing for a kiss that he received after a playful nip to his nose. 

“Nah, you sweetened the deal, pussycat,” He kissed her in earnest, she approved of this greatly, responding with eagerness. ”Don’t fret you’re here to stay,”

“Mhm, I better be,”


	5. Blue Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She managed to breath the life back into that old record player.

The hotel room is dimly lit with an old cracked lamp, the base a haughty lime green that didn't match with the gritty browns and oranges and yellows that accented the whole room. She lazily ran her hand over the surface of the bar, her calloused palm stuttering over each scratch and crack, much like Benny would when he ran his lips over each of her scars, each of her imperfections. She had never been quite sure of why he did that, some of those scars, the less notable ones, were at least partially his fault. He didn't do it out of guilt, she knew that much. Still she smiled. A small private smile. 

Six reached the end of the bar, lifting a record sleeve from where it had sat for the past week gathering dust. The cover was faded to less than a yellowed overtone and some vaguely coherent shapes, the title and artist washed away in the sands of time, her fingers trace the weathered cover with a unconscious fondness while she wandered over to her record player. 

It was a recent project of hers, a fixation, perhaps, since she had repaired one for Tommy and had snatched what she believed her dear friend The King would believe to be a vintage piece of history. It wasn't hers forever, Six had convinced herself that she would return it. Eventually.

She pulled the black disk from its protective cover, and slotted it into the device and carefully places the arm down on the edge of the record. A pause, a scratch and then there is a rich sound flowing from the device with a reverence. The tune, Six realized, sounded familiar, but just different enough to peak her interest. 

She waited, shifting from foot to foot on the carpet, and then the words come on, and she laughed softly, swinging side to side with the music more freely and humming along to Blue Moon without much thought to her tune. It was a different version than the one she was used to hearing on the radio while on long treks through the desert, but it sounded just as authentic, if not more so, coupled with the rare skips of the needle. 

A gentle sort of haze descended on her, all there was was this room, her room, and this song.

A soft crooning from the doorway startled her, and Six turned with a enough sharpness to knock into the record player, and then she turned it off completely with a rigid motion. Benny stood with his shoulder pressed against the doorway, and arms crossed over his chest. The grin he'd been sporting fell at the look she fixed him with. Benny had the decency- no, not decency- but he at least had enough brains, she supposed, to look sheepish.

"Didn't mean to startle ya, pussycat." He murmured, moving in a slow, careful way to stand before her.

"Hey," She replied, blankly, and then shook her head. "It's fine, didn't expect you back so soon."

"You need more sleep," He tenderly brushed a thumb across the darker circles beneath her eyes, and then moved a lock of her hair out of her face and behind her ear, 

"I guess," Six said, then laughed gently, as if he'd made a joke. He eyed her suspiciously before she elaborated, "Bet I'd sleep better if you didn't snore,"

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sure. I'm definitely the one with the snoring problem, babe." And they both laughed, a peace settled over Six again and she was grateful for that.

Benny must have seen her relax, because he reached toward the record player, and for a split second a protective urge to bat his hand away from it comes over her, but he was merely restarting the song by putting the needle gently at the edge of the record and turning it on. The first notes, so familiar and yet not, filled the room as he extended a warm hand to her, "Dance with me?" 

So, she did, taking his extended hand and allowing him to curl his arms around her in a gentle embrace as they slowly swayed with the music. He sang along, albeit badly, with the more professional lilt of the artist, but despite that, Six smiled into the shoulder of the tacky checkered suit she so loved, warm and content. Perhaps she wouldn't ever get around to returning that particular record.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops haven't updated in forever, haven't had inspiration or motivation for fnv in forever. Deepest apologies, enjoy. It's a short and sweet chapter.


End file.
